Update: 5-16-2017

Hi everyone!

We recently saw that we had messages sent via our website a while ago that we only just discovered. We were not getting the notifications of the messages and feel terrible that we didn't respond. Please know that we have fixed the problem and are very interested in hearing from you vie email (pb4@humboldt.edu) or via the Arcata Dog Park website.

At our monthly meeting with City Manager Karen Diemer, we learned that the city is still waiting to hear from EPA about their grant application to get the interim sampling of toxicity levels done so that they can finalize a sampling plan; it's also the money the city needs to implement the sampling plan and begin cleanup. Most likely the city will hear in June. The city is also pursuing a SCAP grant with the California Department of Water Resources for the same use.

The Arcata Dog Park Working Group (ADPWG) has decided to press forward vigorously to get the City to designate 5 to 7 acres of the property for a dog park, although the use for that purpose would be contingent on cleanup. Once we have that assurance from the city, we will begin fundraising and soliciting people who can help write grants to get the property cleaned up, get official plans drawn, and get the park built.

Our next action is to make a formal request to the City Council to give ADPWG site control of the section of the Little Lake Property we mapped out 3 years ago, contingent on the findings regarding the clean up. We have not made this request for over a year, once we learned about the assessment of toxicity levels. We now want to make this formal request to the council.

How can you help? Please consider calling or emailing the members of the City Council. (Their contact information is available here.) Here's a sample of what you could say: "I am asking you to support the dog park at the Little Lake Property by giving site control to the Arcata Dog Park Working Group, contingent upon the findings from the toxicity assessment.” We know you are busy and may feel frustrated with how long this process is taking. (We are too!) However, we hope you can take a couple minutes to call or email in May before the council meeting in June when we expect to be on the agenda.

Thanks so much!

Pam